Tropicana Las Vegas
Opened in 1957, the Tropicana Resort & Casino is one of the oldest hotel/casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. It is owned and operated by the Aztar Corporation.
The Tropicana hotel has 1,878 rooms and is attached to a 61,000 square foot casino.
The main original building, with the Garden rooms, was built in 1957. The Island Tower, a tower building consisting of 21 floors, was built in 1979. A 22 story Paradise Tower was constructed in 1986, and is the most modern of the three buildings.
The $1 million stained glass ceiling above the main casino blackjack area is modeled after the 1890s Hibernia Bank of San Francisco.
The Tropicana's location - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection, has the most hotel rooms of any intersection in the world and as a result is extremely busy. Pedestrians are not allowed to cross at street level. Instead, the Tropicana is linked by overhead pedestrian bridges to its neighboring casinos: to the north across Tropicana Avenue, the MGM Grand Las Vegas, and to the west across the Strip, the Excalibur.
The Tropicana features Las Vegas' longest-running production show, Folies Bergères, which was originally brought to Las Vegas in 1959.
In the 1970s the hotel was controlled by the Kansas City mafia.
There have been discussions about what will be done with this tropical themed hotel and the attached 34 acres of land. There were rumors that the Tropicana would be closed down on or after February 15, 2006 for redevelopment, but this has not happened yet.
In addition to the casino, the hotel offers plenty of things to do, including the Comedy Stop, featuring today's stand-up comics and tomorrow's rising stars. THe Titanic—the Artifacts Exhibition, features more than 300 authentic artifacts. Trop Shops mall has more than 20 shops. The Xtreme Magic—show starring Dick Arthur, featuring tigers and leopards plays in the afternoons.
